Unfortunately for Rountree (6-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC), Oleksiejczuk (13-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was up to the task of weathering that storm, and then quickly taking control of the fight to earn a unanimous decision victory with a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards.

The light heavyweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC 219 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FS1 following an additional prelim on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

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Rountree began the bout like he had all his hopes pinned on ending it early. After throwing seemingly everything he had into his first few striking exchanges, he committed to a guillotine choke that seemed almost designed to wear out his arms if he didn’t get the tap.

Oleksiejczuk was more than capable of withstanding that early heat and coming back strong, dominating the latter half of the opening round as Rountree slowed and adding to his cardio woes with some well-placed body shots.

That trend would continue in the next two rounds, as Rountree had less and less energy to offer in his attacks while Oleksiejczuk stayed steady with his offensive output, chipping away at Rountree on the feet and then grinding him down on the mat for much of the final round.

For his part, all Rountree could do near the end was survive, having spent all his energy on trying for the early finish with nothing left for a final sprint. The result was fairly obvious, as all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in favor of Oleksiejczuk.

“From what I saw in my opponent’s previous fights, all of his opponents entered the octagon scared,” Oleksiejczuk said. “They had already given up. I was never scared, and I think that showed. I controlled the fight and imposed my will. Since this is my first fight in the UFC, I wanted to show the world what I can do. This was only the first step for me. I am young and I will be a champion. Next, I would like to fight Gokhan Saki, since he was supposed to be in this fight (against Rountree), or Ion Cutelaba. I am here to be the best, so I want a high-level opponent.”

The win in his UFC debut gives Oleksiejczuk a 10-fight winning streak overall. Rountree’s loss snaps a two-fight winning streak in the UFC.

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